Better Than You Know
by Rikotsu-sama
Summary: Sasuke and Naruto used to be the best of friends. When they're separated for more than five years, can they heal the rift? Or will they cease to be anything more than memories to each other? Or... will they become something more? SasuNaru, AU
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. They belong to the beautiful and talented Masashi Kishimoto. **

Better Than You Know

Chapter 1

It was a Sunday. Sunday May seventeenth, to be exact. It was a day I will never stop reliving. I was in the hallway of his house, leaning against the wall, out of sight. It was dark. I could just barely make out the light breathing of the woman next to me whose shoulder was pressed up against mine in anticipation. I did not mind the contact, but only because it was her. The girl that knew me so well.

I heard a sneeze across the wide open entrance room. I heard her breath catch in her throat. Was he coming? I resisted the urge to peek out from out from behind the wall and catch a glimpse of the front door, the curtained windows and the dim light seeping in from the cracks of the door. I felt her encircle my hand with her own. She was pushing on my bubble of personal space a little too hard, but in the current situation I had no will to reclaim my space. I closed my hand softly around her smaller one and turned my head, painfully aware of the muted sound my hair made as it scratched on the wall. I could barely make out her emerald eyes in the darkness, but she was looking at me and I could see her familiar lips curve into a smile at me.

She leaned up and whispered at a level that was barely audible, "Sasuke." She stopped, listening to the surrounding silence, wary of the possibility that he may be there at any moment. "You are a wonderful friend," she breathed before resting back down on her heels. It wasn't until now I noticed just how much shorter than me she was, I was a little more than a head taller and it astounded me. The last time we had been close enough to tell was years ago in grade six. We were lined up shoulder-to-shoulder in gym class according to height and I was barely half an inch taller than her. So much time had passed since then, but I still found myself as close to her as I had ever been. I smiled briefly and squeezed her hand lightly before turning my head the other way, still wishing I could see the door. I breathed cautiously, lending my ears once again to the silence around us. How long had it been that we were like this? Twenty minutes at least.

Click.

What was that? We held our breath as the doorknob turned and it opened, spilling sunlight into the stunningly dark room. "Why's it so dark in here?" His voice floated airily through the room. We held our position.

As he flicked on the light switch to his left they jumped out all screaming simultaneously, "Surprise!" She was included, but I lingered around the corner, I was not about to scream with them, fortunately they were loud enough for me and a few others to be silent. When I finally turned the corner, I saw his face. His golden hair was spiked up in random directions like he had just woken up (which he had), but it looked good on him. But that was not what I noticed first. His face. I must admit, was highly amusing. He was wide-eyed and his mouth was agape in shock. I restrained a smile. He stuttered out a, "Wh- What?"

"Happy birthday, Naruto!" She exclaimed, running up and hugging him. I leaned against the opposite wall from where we were now, my hands casually tucked in my pockets as I watched all but three give a hug and a congratulations to him. I was included in that three, the other two being the redhead now standing behind the horseshoe couch and the Hyuuga calmly taking a seat on one of the leather chairs' footrests.

I watched the scene unfold in silence until Naruto asked still shocked, "Who set this up?" I smirked.

"Sasuke did," She answered, turning to me. I didn't budge as he looked at me. I couldn't read his eyes. Shock? Happiness? Thankfulness? It was all hazy. He walked over to me, leaving the mob of our shared friends at the door.

"Thanks," and he held out his arms as if to hug me but as he closed in for the kill I ducked and scooted to my right. When he hit the wall all of us laughed, although I just smirked at him as he turned to glare at me. The glare was pathetic and pouty, but I was not about to allow a hug. It wasn't me. "Teme!"

"You should know better than to try and hug me, dobe. But you're welcome." I did not change my eyes but stopped smirking as I spoke. "Sakura helped out a lot, too. Everyone did." She smiled at me, I saw it out of the corner of my eye as I still faced Naruto.

"Don't be modest, Sasuke. You got everyone together, made sure Naruto was out of the house early in the morning, and even set up the TV outside," Sakura explained.

"TV outside? What TV outside?" Naruto blubbered, instantly looking at me then Sakura and turning to run outside. I smirked as the mob followed the dobe outside.

I wandered slowly along the back of the crowd along with pineapple-boy and Sabaku. I could hear Naruto going crazy outside over the television. It was a stroke of genius, if I did say so myself. The hallway was long leading to the back deck out-looking the lawn. Naruto, despite having lost his parents so long ago, lived a life of luxury with his family's close friend Jiriya, the successful author. The home was nothing to sneeze at, but I still think back to the Uchiha mansion and remember that this is nothing comparatively.

Stepping slowly out onto the deck, Naruto turned to me and everyone parted and let me step to the center of the mob. "Sasuke, did you do this?" He asked me, his blue eyes electrifying.

"Everyone chipped in, I just came up with the idea since you were whining about how you could never watch TV at night because Jiriya-- _occupied_ the one upstairs," I stated curtly, everyone chuckling at my pause before "occupied."

"Thanks, teme," He said to me earnestly, "I can't say that enough." Before long everyone started wondering what we were doing just standing there, barely three feet apart, staring into each others' eyes. He smiled at me through his eyes as he plastered a goofy grin across his lips. I looked back at him with something in my eyes that he must have thought intense because he blinked and turned away, shouting, "Last one in the pool treats the rest of us to ramen!" And dashing away and dive bombing into the oval-shaped pool filled with chlorinated water in the center of the large lawn.

I followed lazily and rolled up my jeans as I watched most of the guys shed their shirts and dive right in, whereas most of the girls took off their tops and shorts revealing their bathing suits before jumping in on the fun. I still adorned my shirt as I sat down next to Shikamaru on the edge of the pool, dangling our feet in the water.

Soon enough Lee had dragged the lazy genius into the the water and they were dunking each other, wrestling in the clear water. Gaara had even walked into the pool and was now conversing lethargically with Neji and Shino by the edge. Hinata, Ino, and Sakura were having a water fight whilst dodging around where Kiba, Choji and Tenten were having a heated argument about what movie they should watch first on the new television. Naruto and Temari lounged on the opposite end from Sabaku and Hyuuga. I couldn't hear what they were talking about. I rested my elbows on my legs and then my head on my hands. I was content to watch the commotion from afar. Before long Temari joined the movie debate and Naruto floated over to me, placing his hands on either side of my legs on the side of the pool to keep himself afloat easier.

"Teme, c'mon, jump in!" He told me urgently.

I resisted the urge to shoot my friend a death glare and simply gave a prompt, "No."

"_Teme!_" He whined, drawing out the final syllable, his electric blue eyes pleading me to join the group. I had no intention of moving from my spot, but Naruto _had_ asked nicely. I contemplated it, showing no emotion. It would take so long for my jeans to dry off if I did, but I did want to have fun. Incredible concept, I know. But hey, why not? I could always borrow new pants from Naruto. Seeing a change in my eyes, Naruto broke out in a grin and pushed off the side of the pool.

I gave a groan of protest before pushing off from my seat by the side into the deep end of the pool. As I surfaced, my friends were clapping and cheering. I gave a rare smile and combed my hair back from my eyes. I was in for a wild night.

_-----------------------------------------------------------_

"You're turn, Sasuke-kun!" Ino chirped as the bottle halted, pointing at me. Why had it come to this? Spin the bottle? I guess it's because Ino insisted and Naruto didn't protest the idea. I inwardly sighed and glared mildly at the bottle, willing it to move an inch to the left and land on Shikamaru. No such luck. "Truth or dare?" I had always detested that squeaky voice of hers.

"Truth," I answered cooly.

"Too scared to do a dare, Uchiha?" Kiba asked snottily, smirking at me from across the circle.

"I simply do not desire to be dared to do something dumb like you were, Inuzuka." I was an Uchiha, I had pride unlike the dog-boy. He had been dared to lay one on Shino and, knowing the devious witch that Ino was, I would be dared to do something of a similar nature.

"Tch," He snorted, crossing his arms across his chest and looking away. I smirked.

"Tell us something we don't know you're gonna be doing over summer," Ino ordered me by her divine power of bottle-spinner that round.

I was honestly surprised at the lack of evil put into her choice, but I somehow know that she also knew that I would not spill any gossip-worthy information even if she asked. But I had been hoping to tell everyone later... perhaps after I had already gone, but that seemed to be out of the question now. I wasn't scared of how they would react, just of losing them myself. I, the ice prince himself, admit a soft spot for the group. Even the annoying, manipulative bitch Ino. Now that she wasn't clinging on to me she was actually pretty alright. Was it so hard to tell them? They were only words. It wasn't like it was the end of the world: telling them, but somehow that did not make the frog in my throat go away.

"We're waiting, Sasuke," Ino said, slightly annoyed at me thinking about my response.

I looked up at my friends with a twinge of sadness in my eyes and clearing my throat and speaking clearly despite the tightness there, I told them, "I'm moving back to Kyoto."

Silence ensued the statement. A tense, almost somber silence, not one meant for a birthday party. I looked into her emerald eyes, sitting to my right and found pain. Almost hurt. What was I expecting her to say?

"You must be joking," Kiba laughed it off, looking at me with eyes that said 'this is all a joke, right?'

I slowly shook my head. "My parents are requesting that I move back in with them for my last two years of high school. I leave in three weeks." Three all-too-short weeks.

The tension consumed the conversation and it dimmed to a silence in the burning twilight. It was still hot, despite the decreasing light. The garden lights that lined the deck flickered on, shedding a small amount of fluorescent light across our faces.

Everyone's eyes looked sad as I reached forward to the bottle that created this mess and twisted it quickly, causing the bottle to spin noisily on the wood of the deck. The game must go on.

_-----------------------------------------------------------_

The game had long-since ended and the group was watching some movie or another on the new flat-screen. I had wandered inside and then out the front door, lingering on the front patio. I sat on the top two steps of the four leading up to the large estate and looked up, the remnants of the sunset fading off the sky. I always had liked twilight because it was a mingling of light and darkness, but somehow it had a negative effect on me that day. I felt betrayed by the incoming darkness because I spent so long planning his party and then ruined it with my unfortunate news. I sighed and looked up at the stars.

Click. Thump, thump, thump, thump. Naruto sat beside me unceremoniously, but didn't say a word. He looked up at the stars with me. There weren't that many left with all the pollution in Tokyo, you could see them a great deal better on the outskirts of Kyoto. But these were nice all the same because they held my memories of my friends.

"So you're really leaving, teme?" He asked me warily.

I was unsure how to reply and keep my mask in place, so I gave a simple, "Hn."

"You must have known for so long, why didn't you tell us?"

I kept my eyes pointed to the sky, even though I could feel his expectant look on my cheeks. "I had not found an opportune moment to tell everyone."

He fell silent, keeping his look on me. I finally broke my sight off of the sky and looked into his burning sapphire orbs. What was going on inside that head of his? I never could tell all that well. A moment later he asked, "Why are your parents making you move back?"

"They say they want to keep a good eye on my grades so I can get into a good university and so that I may become well acquainted with their business partners before I take over the family business."

He looked skeptically at me. "But I thought your parents wanted you to go to Tokyo U.? Wouldn't that be contradictory to bring you back to Kyoto for only two years when you'll be coming back so soon?"

"Hn. I don't know, dobe."

"There must be another reason," He told me confidently, looking back into my onyx eyes. "You're hiding something from me."

I turned to face him, crossing my legs. "Alright, dobe, do you want to know the reason?"

He mimicked me and turned towards me, crossing his legs. Our knees were touching, although he took no notice. I was beginning to mind the closeness between us. "Of course, teme."

"My parents are afraid that I'll like the city life more than the honourable Kyoto lifestyle. They don't want me getting different ideas of what I want to do with my life. They just want me to stay brainwashed under their care and take over the family business." I paused, looking into his azure eyes. "Happy?"

He nodded dumbly and a short silence followed my statement. It was awkward, an awkwardness that I had never felt around my blonde friend before.

"Hey, dobe." I was the first to speak after that. "I haven't given you your birthday present yet." He looked up at me with confused eyes.

"But the TV--"

"Is not just from me. So I thought I'd get you something else." I rummaged in my hoodie that I had grabbed before going outside again and pulled out an envelope. I handed it to my friend and he opened it.

"Tickets to see Akatsuki? These are nearly impossible to get!" He exclaimed with glee.

"Well, considering my brother is good friends with their stage manager I was able to grab some tickets off him when he visited over the winter holidays. I know they're your favorite band."

"Wow. That is amazing, but what's this?" Naruto asked, pulling out a thin strip of orange fabric neatly folded and hemmed.

"It's an arm band," I told him, taking it from his hands and tying it tightly around his upper right bicep. "It's to cover up that nasty scar Akamaru gave you that one time at the park when you refused to relinquish the frisbee. Plus, orange fits you."

He smiled at me, appreciative that I had let my guard down. "Thanks, teme. And it does make me look tough." He flexed his arm, showing off the armband. A hint of a smile ghosted across my lips. A more cheery silence followed our conversation this time, but it was still intense.

Then, out of the blue, he whispered (it was almost a whimper), "I'm going to miss you, teme."

I smiled inwardly and snickered, "I'll miss you too, dobe, as much as I hate to say it."

Naruto leaned forward, resting his forehead against mine. Okay-- serious invasion of my bubble right here. "What are you doing, dobe?"

"I want to remember everything about you, teme, so suck it up," he snapped at me. I was silenced and allowed him to remain sitting in front of me, our knees touching, his forehead rested against mine. He closed his eyes but I kept my charcoal eyes locked on his face. Was that a tear on his cheek?

"Sasuke," -- He almost never used my name -- "I don't want to lose you."

"What are you talking about, dobe? Kyoto isn't the moon."

He stayed silent, our foreheads still touching. I thought of moving away, but the close proximity gave me a strange form of comfort now. I let my eyes drift shut, just as his had. It was a companionable silence we sat in, and on a strange whim I put my hand lightly on his that were folded in his lap as I whispered, "I'm going to keep in touch, don't worry."

_-----------------------------------------------------------_

But that was more than five years ago. So much time has passed since then, but I still remember the way he touched my forehead with such tenderness, how appreciative he was that I made that party happen... I still remember seeing the tears stream down his face three weeks later when he and Sakura saw me off at the train station. Despite the memories, despite the hurt, I find myself today, exactly where he thought I would be: halfway through my last year at Tokyo U. I hadn't seen him since... or really talked at all. I e-mailed him a few times in the months following my departure for Kyoto, but eventually stopped when I got caught up in the work for grade eleven. Sakura still called every now and then, but university consumed the majority of my time now.

I had, many times, mulled over the idea of going to his house, he probably hadn't moved, but never brought myself to do it. I don't think I ever will see him again. But then again, fate works in mysterious ways. Perhaps I will.

I spare a glare towards my phone as it began to vibrate and scream out "Whispers in the Dark" by Skillet. I set my pen down and ceased finishing my Advanced Statistics homework to pick up the offending article and flip it open sideways, automatically starting on speakerphone so I could continue my homework. (1) I voiced, "Uchiha Sasuke speaking. Who is this?"

"Hey Sasuke!" Her voice sounded distant and full of static, but I could never forget it. I suppressed a smile and allowed my hand to stop half-way to my pen. "It's Sakura." I could almost see her green eyes light up.

"Sakura. What a pleasant surprise." I kept my tone even, but not cold.

"What's up?" She asked rhetorically. "I want to hang out sometime. I haven't talked to you since Summer and we haven't hung out since... Like ever."

I chuckled softly. "Indeed. It has been a long while, but semester exams are next week so I need to study."

"Then what are you doing come semester break?" I could almost see her frustrated eyes glaring at the ground as she walked, a sigh of annoyance hidden behind her words. She would be twisting a strand of hair around her right index finger too.

"My parents are requesting that I return home for the Holidays, but I already told them that I wanted to get a head start on the upcoming semester. Thus, it would be more convenient to remain in Tokyo for the break. What do you have in mind?"

A smile seeped through her words, "I'm having a reunion with a lot of old friends over to Naruto's house for Christmas. I told everyone they could bring their families too, so it's going to be a big affair." Naruto's house? Hm.

"Did you say Naruto's house?" I believe I sounded colder than I should have.

"Is that a problem, Sasuke?" I stared blankly at my open Statistics text book and wondered. Was it a problem? At first I would say of course not. Naruto and I were good friends, but I hadn't seen him in years. Maybe we wouldn't be anymore. People change over the years.

I absentmindedly shook my head, even though she could not see it. "No, it's not a problem."

"Fantastic. Christmas Day, Two P.M. at Naruto's. You still remember how to get there, right?" She asked cheerily, a hop in her step adding to the blurriness of her voice.

"Hn." Of course I did. How could I ever forget?

"Perfect, I'll see you there then, Sasuke!" She giggled.

"Hn." Click. Click. The buzz of the dial-tone stun slightly at my ear. I flipped the phone closed and paused to think.

It had been _years_ since I had seen or heard from Naruto. Maybe he would be different. Knowing how it works, he would be a completely different person. Then again, the dobe would always be a dobe. No matter how much he changed. I smirked. Once a dobe, always a dobe.

I returned to my work, determined for my concentration not to be broken by thoughts of the party. Much to my dismay, I found my mind wandering all too often and went to bed early, my homework unfinished on my desk.

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**(1)** "Whispers In the Dark" is actually my ringtone. And the phone he has is a double-hinged phone like I have. I'm so creative, ne? lol. xD

I know it doesn't look like it now but I swear this IS a romance.... Just let it take it's course. I hope you liked it, and if you did hit the magical review button! Thank you very much! 3

-RiRi


	2. Chapter 2

So, just like in my Cleon fic, Autumn, I am going to give you guys a fact about myself each chapter. Just because I can! So here's this chapter's: My favorite book and movie is _Pride and Prejudice_ by Jane Austen. It still inspires me to write romance.

**I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. They belong to the wonderful and talented Masashi Kishimoto. **

Better Than You Know

Chapter 2

Time passed slowly as I walked through finals and the days dragged on until I found myself laying in bed on Christmas Eve. Tomorrow was the day, and I didn't know why, but I wasn't looking forward to it as much as I should be. It would be just another day. It would be one more to ex-off on my calendar with a big, fat red sharpie. It's not like anything would change between Naruto and me. We would meet, say our hellos, talk about old times, and then move on and perhaps not see each other again for another five years. Nothing would change...

I sighed, sitting up and looking at the clock. Half-past ten. Going straight to bed was the best plan, I decided.

-----------------------------------------------------------

I decided it was a smart idea not to drive to the party, since logically there would be no parking, thus I took the bus and subway across Tokyo, and ended up walking a mile or two into the rich part of town. But eventually, I ended up standing in front of Naruto's house half an hour late, with my shoes thoroughly soaked by the snow. I shivered as I rang the doorbell, expecting the dobe to answer, but, to my surprise, found Sakura standing in front of me.

"Sasuke! So nice to see you! Come in, come in. You must be freezing. Didn't you drive?" she blabbed on, and I shook my head. She gave me a smile that said "and why not?"

"I thought there wouldn't be much parking, which I was right about," I told her as I stepped inside, but indicated to the near pile-up of cars on the street outside.

"Well maybe if you were on-time you wouldn't have had that problem," she teased. I remained stoic as I slipped off my coat and scarf. She teased my hair a little, shaking off the remnants of the snow that was lightly falling outside. I pulled away from her touch and she frowned a moment, but her Christmas spirit was not damaged.

She lead me into the crowd of familiars that had not yet noticed my presence and, across the room, conversing with Hinata, was Naruto. I glanced at him. His appearance was much less boyish now, handsome even. His platinum blonde hair had darkened to a sandy mid-shade of yellow and he was tanned. Something was different about his face, though, that I did not expect. There were three wisker-marks on each of his cheeks that I assumed were tattoos. They only added to his new mystique.

In a few seconds, he turned and caught my gaze. His eyes hadn't changed. They were still the electric baby blues they had always been. He smiled at me, and I returned it with a small, almost invisible, smile of my own. He obviously saw this, even as it disappeared from my face, and signaled this by shooting me a toothy grin before turning back to Hinata.

To say the least, my reunion with Naruto did not go how I had expected. I had expected it to be a big flash of "omigosh how are you", or at the very least somehow more than just an exchange of small smiles. But that's how life is. It never goes how you expect it to.

I followed Sakura up the stairs and into the glassed-in mini-balcony off the back of Naruto's room. Everything was just as it had always been, both in Naruto's room, the back yard, and the house. I resisted to the urge to sigh with nostalgia and took a seat on the bench next to the woman, now beautiful to any man's eyes, that had never ceased to be there for me. For a few minutes we just sat there, painfully aware of how things _had_ changed. We weren't little kids anymore, so there was no spin the bottle, no crazy swimming, nothing. Now we had apple martinis, small talk about business, and scheduling outings for a dinner at nice restaurants around college and work. What an upgrade. I admit, I missed those carefree days of grade school in Tokyo. But, more than anything, I missed having my friends around me. That I missed most of all.

"So, how've you been? It's been nearly six months since we last talked for real," Sakura entreated, creating a conversation I had almost forgotten would happen.

"Good. And yourself?" I replied calmly, rubbing my hands together lightly, washing away the last waves of cold from my fingers.

"I've been alright. Still lacking a boyfriend, but otherwise good." She laughed a little at this, but I remained unchanged.

"Why haven't you gotten a boyfriend?" I looked out across the yard and looked into the wide-open branches of the house opposite's hanamizuki tree (1), covered in snow. I remembered this tree all too well, because when it's flowers wilted each Autumn, they would fall into Jariya's pool and Naruto would be made to fish them out (although he commonly coerced his friends into doing the chore for him).

"All the guys I like don't like me back. So I guess I just haven't met the right guy. What about you? Met a nice girl yet?"

I chuckled. "You know me. I don't have time for such things." I hung my head a little, looking at my hands.

"If you wanted to, you'd make time," she told me.

"Perhaps." I looked up to find her staring into my onyx eyes. "If I met the right person, I suppose." She smiled at me.

"Well it's good to know you're not a completely lost cause." I smirked, and again turned to my hands. "Sasuke..." She spoke my name with such tenderness. "I've never once seen you with a girl... You're just like every other guy on the planet, as much as you try to hide it. You have hormones too. Are you sure you're not gay?" She had asked me this once before, back when my parents brought her to the Uchiha mansion for a few days of visiting after we graduated. I, of course, frankly answered yes, I was sure. And the answer hadn't changed.

"Yes, I'm sure," I stated.

"Alright. I just thought I'd check. It's been a few years since we talked about this stuff."

I gave a curt "hn" and silence ensued. It was companionable, a sort of silence of the ages, with memories clouding the air, making it hard to breathe. I looked up and caught her emerald eyes with mine.

"Sasuke, why was it really that you never kept in touch?" She asked me, looking deep into my eyes. I could almost see her throat tighten, making it a little harder to breathe. She was going to cry. I knew it.

I blinked, looking down as she took my hands in hers. They were so warm and I made no move to take them back, so she looped her fingers through mine awkwardly. I could see tears forming in her eyes. "Sakura--" I paused, reminding myself of my façade. "I was afraid that I would just have to lose everything all over again." I paused to swallow as tears began to fall from her emerald eyes. "I could handle it once, but I couldn't handle it again. I can only bottle up so much."

"Again?"

"I leave for Kyoto at the end of the school year to officially take over Uchiha Enterprises."

As the tears began running down her cheeks, she spoke a little brokenly. "You should know that distance should not keep us apart. You didn't have to lose everything by leaving, but you chose to. Sasuke, we missed you a fuckton." It was odd hearing her curse. She seldom did, so it was almost a foreign language to my ears. "Especially Naruto and me. It took us a year to get used to hanging out without you there. And Naruto was constantly talking about how he might have been able to talk your parents into letting you stay. But all of that pales in comparison to your _laziness_." Her tearful tone was replaced by a confident one drenched in all the anger built up over the years. "Calling us every so often, e-mailing even shooting us an IM. It doesn't take that long to just ask 'Hey, what's up? How're you doing?' in order to keep in touch with long-time friends. Sasuke, you're a coward if you thought that you'd lose us again if you kept in touch up till now."

I swallowed hard.

"Sasuke, please promise me something." I nodded. "Either keep in touch after you leave, or leave right now." Her words stung at my heart.

I, of course, knew all of what she said to be the truth. I was cowardly for not doing my best to keep in touch. I didn't deserve friends that cared as much for me as she did. I really didn't. "Sakura-- I cannot promise you anything right now." Her hand gripped mine tighter and I could all but feel the tightening of her throat. "Let me talk to Naruto first." She thought that the reason I wanted to talk to Naruto was that he meant more to me than she did, but that was not the case. Both were my best friends for different reasons, thus could not be compared. She understood this, to be sure, but somehow refused to accept it.

I got up and exited the balcony without another word, leaving the woman to her thoughts.

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It was not until after the Christmas party had ended and all the guests (save for myself) had left that I had the opportunity to talk to Naruto. It began with just small talk...

"You don't need to stay to help clean up, y'know," Naruto told me. His voice had deepened very slightly since the last time I heard it over five years prior.

"I wasn't planning to," I replied smugly.

"Oh." He blushed. I chuckled.

"But since you suggested it..." My voice trailed off with an unnameable tone as I began straightening the pillows on the couch and grabbing some plastic cups off the coffee table, placing them in the large bag that Naruto and Jiriya had been piling trash in.

"Seriously, though. You don't need to stay and help," he insisted from across the room.

I looked up and caught his eyes. "I want to."

The conversation dwindled as we finished cleaning up the front room and continued through the downstairs. It was work enough to keep my mind from wandering, but not enough to keep me from stealing glances at my friend. It had been so long, and I had expected everything to be different. But nearly nothing had really changed, and I regretted admitting that I had made the worst mistake of my life by not keeping in touch. When the downstairs was done, we finished off the upstairs TV room and hallway, but didn't bother with the bedrooms since the guests were polite enough to keep out of them (except for Sakura and myself).

As we descended the stairs, Naruto tripped behind me. I turned to see why he shouted and was in the nick of time to catch him and myself at the foot of the stairs. I chuckled at the "oof!" sound he made as he landed in my arms and the garbage back toppled to the floor, spilling a few of its contents.

"I'm so sorry," he blubbered, hesitantly jumping out of my arms and getting on his knees to shove the contents of the bag back inside. I leaned down and handed him the last few cups off the floor, which he took with a small blush.

"Honestly, what would you do without me?" I teased, a small smirk dawning on my features.

"Hmpf. Same old teme." He smiled at me before running off to put the bag in the trash-can. He threw a "just wait here" over his shoulder at me, and so I sat down on one of the larger couches and waited for his return (which happened to be rather swift). As he came back in, a tad short on breath (why had he ran?), he sat down next to me, propping his feet up on the coffee table.

"In a hurry?" I asked him nonchalantly.

"It's not polite to leave guests waiting," he said matter-of-factly. He tapped his foot a little on the table out of what I guessed to be nervousness.

"Since when did you get manners?" I could almost see his eyes darken at the dabble into the things I'd missed. I quickly changed the subject. "Where are you going to college?"

"Tokyo Gakugei U.," he answered meekly.

"Are you planning on being a teacher?"

He nodded and I could see a small smile grace his lips.

So maybe something did change... Since when did Naruto want to become a teacher? Last time I heard he wanted to grow up and be a ninja or a professional hobo. He never spoke seriously about his future until now. I wonder how much I really missed.

"I want to be a high school gym teacher. I won't make that good of money, but at least it's something that I love to do, right?"

I gave an affirmative "Hn."

"What about you?"

"Tokyo U., School of Economics."

He laughed at me a little. It was a hearty laugh, not a mean one. The kind that almost said, without words, "I told you so." He said, "I knew you would be." I remained unable to reply for a little bit longer, as did he. I yawned first, and then him. He chuckled and whispered an amused, "Yawns are contagious."

I must have been more tired than I thought, because before I knew I had closed my eyes, I was fast asleep on Naruto's couch and he was asleep right next to me.

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When I awoke it was hard to move. I shifted my body a little from it's lying position, but found there to be an immense source of weight on my chest. I wrenched open my eyes to find a blurry head of blonde hair on my upper chest. At first I was extremely confused, that type of confusion that you get when you wake up with your head at the wrong end of the bed and you roll over and smack into the wall instead of getting off the bed (2). I pushed up, and the blonde lump just continued to lie comfortably on top of me. When I finally shook the sleepy feeling from my brain, it clicked. I had fallen asleep on Naruto's couch, and so had Naruto. Thus, this was Naruto sleeping on top of me without a care in the world. What?!

First off, I resisted the urge to scream like a little girl that the man was sleeping on top of me. I took a deep breath and shook his shoulder with my hand. He made an incoherent mumbly noise and snuggled closer into my chest, linking his arms around to my back. I froze and my shoulders stiffened. This was **major **invasion of my personal bubble and I was not enjoying it.

"Naruto?" I asked in a quiet, even tone. He made no movements and I became aware of the fact that I could feel his heart beating against my chest and his breathing against my neck. Goose bumps trailed down my arms and back. "Naruto, wake up!" I commanded in a louder voice. He shifted a little and his eyes flickered open. He removed one hand from my back to rub his eyes with and it left my back with a twinge of cold. He shoved up a little from me using my chest and then gazed down on me with dream-filled sparkly blue eyes. For a moment he looked confused as to why he was staring down at me and then his eyes widened swiftly and he yelped as he jumped off of me, conveniently clutching the blanket (when had that gotten there?) across his body as though he wanted to be hid from sight.

I chuckled and sat up, placing my feet on the floor beside the couch. I glanced up at him looking down at me with terrified eyes. Did he think I was going to kill him for falling asleep on me or something? The thought had, of course, crossed my mind, but I wasn't that cruel.... Right.

"I'm so sorry!" He nearly screamed, shutting his eyes and clenching his hands tightly around the blanket.

"For what?" I asked him sarcastically. "You can't control how you end up when you're sleeping. It's no big deal." I stood and smirked at him. "Unless of course you slept on top of me on purpose, in which case I may just have to kill you." He hurriedly shook his head back and forth and the smirk faded from my face, replaced by my typical mask of ice.

"No, believe me, I didn't mean to!" He still was frazzled, thoroughly convinced I was mad at him. He peeked out from behind his blanket to look at me. "Are you mad at me?"

I quirked an eyebrow and he got the message. "Why would I be?" He smiled at me and dropped the arm holding up the blanket to his side. He was still wearing his dress shirt and suit pants, as was I. He scratched his head embarrassedly as though he felt stupid for not knowing I wasn't mad at him. It was nearly enough to get a smile to crack my lips, but not quite.

"I should be going. It's already dawn," I told him, walking over to my things by the door.

"No!" He said a bit too quickly. I turned to look at him quizzically. "I mean, you took the subway, right? Why don't you finish sleeping here and I'll drive you home after you get some rest?"

"I'd rather not sleep on a couch again," I stated frankly.

"You can sleep on my bed."

"Then where will you sleep?"

"I dunno, I guess I can sleep on the couch in my room." He shrugged.

"Hm." I considered the offer, and it sounded a lot better than going all the way home to go back to bed, so I answered, "Alright."

"Sweet, c'mon." He walked up the stairs, the blanket trailing behind him, and I followed. When we reached Naruto's room, he ninja'd a pillow (one of the many) off of his bed and plopped it down on the couch then proceeded to put the blanket there too. I took off my shoes (that had been so uncomfortably on all evening long) and placed them neatly outside the door.

"Do you mind if I sleep shirtless?" He asked me.

"Not so long as you don't mind if I do the same," I told him teasingly. He should have remembered that I really did not care if he was shirtless, nude, or otherwise lacking in clothes when we had sleep-overs, but obviously the memories had faded. We both stripped off our shirts, although Naruto unceremoniously threw his onto the growing pile of clothes on his floor, I neatly folded mine and placed it on my shoes. When I looked over at him I caught sight of his arm. It still had a bright orange strip of cloth (although now quite worn) tied around his bicep. I hinted at a smile, but looked away.

"May I borrow some pants? These are rather uncomfortable to sleep in," I inquired politely.

"Oh yeah, sure. Just grab a pair of pajamas out of the bottom drawer of my dresser," he told me. "And toss me a pair too please." I leaned down in front of the dresser and tossed him a pair of bright orange pajama pants and took a black pair for myself. I stripped off my pants and pulled the pair of pajama pants over my boxers. I didn't look to see if Naruto did the same, but when I turned around to place my now folded pair of pants on top of my shoes as well, Naruto was sitting, quite comfortably, on the couch wearing them.

I set my pants down outside the door and walked back inside the room and sat down on his bed where it was facing out onto his mini-balcony. I could see dawn painting a sunrise across the cloudy winter sky, but the street lamps on the next street over were still lit. It could have been no later than six thirty A.M.

It was then, staring out at the twilit sky that it felt strange being in Naruto's room again, talking with him as if nothing had changed. Just how much had changed was astounding, but I still felt like it was our first year of high school (3) again and I was just sleeping over at Naruto's the day before a big test that he had asked me to help him study for. I turned around to find him looking at me.

"Sasuke?" It was strange hearing him say my name again. He looked at me with those all-too-familiar eyes. I searched them, not knowing what I was looking for, but found a fondness and a friendship long since forgotten. "I heard you talking to Sakura today." My throat caught, but I kept his gaze steady. His eyes saddened as he continued, "Did you really not keep in touch because you were scared you would lose us again?"

I closed my eyes and sighed, and I didn't even have to contemplate the answer because I had done it so many times in the last few years. I flicked my eyes open and caught an electric look that made me lose my breath for a moment. What was it about my friend's eyes that were so stunning? Perhaps it was that sapphire blue that was so pure it rivaled the sky on a perfect summer's day, but I think it was the way he looked at me. With such _emotion_.

I nodded slowly.

"But you've been back in Tokyo for what? Over three years? How hard was it to just call and hang out over coffee every so often?" He asked, and his voice was nearly as broken as Sakura's had been. "You have no idea how much I wish we had."

I swallowed before speaking, struggling to keep my tone even. "Three and a half years is not enough time to--"

"To what?" He asked me, cutting me off. He looked up at me through his bangs and there was something feral in his eyes. A fierceness I had never seen there before. "Not enough time to make keeping friends worthwhile?"

I shook my head slowly. "Let me rephrase. Three and a half years _is_ enough time for my heart to become attached to you guys as it was before."

"And this is bad why?" He snarled at me.

"Attachment when in a limited time frame only leads to pain," I replied just as fiercely. He backed off a bit and quit the angry routine and averted his eyes. "I leave for Kyoto at the end of May."

I saw a smile creep across his lips. "What are you talking about, teme?" That nickname again. It made me smile at its familiarity. "Kyoto isn't the moon." I chuckled. "And it's not like we can't visit and stuff now that we're older. I'm graduating the same time you are, you know." I nodded, keeping my eyes closed. "...It's not like we can't still be friends." I smiled and I could tell he saw it as he sat in front of me.

We were as close as we ever were and I found my mask melting away. The silence continued until I told him in nothing above a whisper, "I missed you, Naruto."

He breathed out and told me, "I've missed you too, Sasuke."

The silence that ensued held many unasked questions. Were we going to be friends again? Were we going to make the effort to keep in touch? _What now?_ I lay down on the king-size bed and crawled under the covers. I had always loved western-style beds. I was not looking forward to the futons back in Kyoto again. I left my eyes open and stared at the ceiling. I could tell that Naruto had lay down on the couch to the right of the bed.

"Good night, teme," he whispered.

"Good morning, dobe," I replied. I closed my eyes and drifted to sleep with his voice upon my ears.

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I awoke to a scream not even a half an hour later. I shot up and looked over at Naruto sprawled out on the couch where the screech had come from. He was thrashing in small movements and I threw off the covers and got to my knees next to him. The blonde whipped his head back and forth and whispered haggardly, "Please, don't. No. Please, _Sasuke!_" My name spoken so painfully from the blonde made my stomach wrench with sadness. I held out my hand to his and he gripped it tightly. It hurt a little, but I didn't care. "Please don't leave me!" He whispered pleadingly.

"Naruto," I whispered in his ear. "Naruto!" He awoke in a sweat and let go of my hand. He looked at me with wide, hurt baby blues and instantly latched his arms around my neck and pulled me close. Serious bubble invasion, but I let it slide this time.

He rested his forehead on my shoulder and sobbed into it, "Sasuke, Sasuke. Please!" His body trembled as I put my arms around his naked upper body and rested my chin on his shoulder.

"Shhh..." I comforted, completely forgetting about my façade. "Naruto, I'm here. I'm right here." His sobs wracked his body and it hurt me to see him like this. Was me leaving really this painful for him? No, that's just my ego talking.

He slowly calmed down and stopped crying into my shoulder. It must have taken him ten minutes to notice he was holding onto me. He slowly pushed me away and I let go. He left his hands on my bare upper arms, close to the shoulder. I finally got a glimpse into his blood-shot cerulean orbs and found myself happy I'd stayed the night. He let go of me with one arm to rub the remaining tears off his cheeks and away from his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke," he whispered, avoiding eye contact.

I paused before replying, "What was that about?"

"Nothing," he mumbled, still looking away.

I brought my hand up to his face and forcefully turned him back to look at me. "Obviously it wasn't nothing, now spill." His eyes betrayed him. They showed the hurt and the pain that he had pent up inside him from more than five years of missing me and a twinge of something I couldn't quite recognize.

He didn't reply properly, just leaned forward and pulled me into another embrace. I was beginning to tire of the invasion of my space, but tolerated it for the time being. He whispered into my shoulder, "Sasuke, promise to never leave me again."

In a moment of weakness, I answered, "I promise, Naruto. I promise." We stayed like that for a few more minutes until I spoke again. "C'mon, go sleep in your bed. You obviously need the rest."

"I don't want to make you sleep on the couch..." He spoke in a near inaudible whisper.

"Then let's share the bed. I don't mind." He nodded into my shoulder and I tried to pull away, but he held me tight. "Dobe, you have to let go." He pulled his head away from my shoulder and looked into my eyes. We were too close for comfort and then he glanced away, again placing his head on my shoulder. "C'mon, dobe."

"I can't stand," he said meekly. "Carry me?"

I chuckled. "Dobe."

He pulled away and looked at me again. "Please?" Ugh, he looked so pitiful. I groaned and hoisted him up with one arm around his back and one underneath his knees. I then carried him bridal-style to the bed and nonchalantly dropped him onto it. He made an 'oof' sound as he landed on his back. I climbed around the other side of the bed and crawled under the covers with my friend.

"Don't have anymore nightmares, alright, dobe? I need my beauty sleep."

He laughed softly next to me. "Alright, princess."

I don't remember falling asleep again.

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When I awoke, Naruto was already up. I sleepily wandered downstairs, still wearing only my borrowed pajama pants and the boxers underneath. I found Naruto in the kitchen making waffles. I sat down at one of the counter's bar chairs and watched him for a few minutes as he stared intently at the waffle iron as if it would perform a magic trick if he stared at it long enough. He hadn't noticed me yet.

When he turned around, I suspect to grab a cup of coffee from the coffee maker to my left, he jumped with fright at the sight of me. Even at age twenty-one he was just as animated. I shot him an amused smirk as he took a deep breath.

"Good morning, Sasuke," he said, awkwardly getting a cup of coffee and stirring in an ungodly amount of sugar.

"Actually, it is currently half-past noon. So it's afternoon," I commented, resting my chin on my hands.

"Smartass." I smirked again. "You haven't changed."

"But you have. Since when do you eat something other than ramen for breakfast, lunch, and dinner?" I asked, pointing to the waffle iron that had finally dinged, signaling that the waffle was done.

"Since my doctor told me I needed to balance my diet," he groaned, lifting the waffle out with a fork and placing it on a plate and putting it in front of me. "Syrup or powdered sugar? Nevermind. You hate syrup." I smiled inwardly. He hadn't forgotten everything.

I began buttering and powdering the waffle as he poured more batter into the iron. "So you added waffles drenched in maple syrup and coffee to your diet. What an improvement." My words dripped with sarcasm almost as thick as the syrup.

Naruto smiled a toothy smile. "For me, yeah. It is." He paused to take a sip of coffee and I began eating my waffle. "Would you like something to drink?" he asked, setting down his mug of sugar-laced coffee.

I swallowed before speaking, "Milk, please."

"Sure." The blonde turned back around and poured me a generous glass of milk from the carton in the fridge and set it in front of my plate.

"Thank you," I said.

A silence ensued as both of us danced around the subject of earlier that morning. Before long, Naruto got to the point. "The reason I had that nightmare last night was because I missed you so much. I used to have the same one for the next few months after you left. I guess seeing you again stirred up those feelings again." I felt like there was a loose end of his story, some other reason for his discomfort, but let it lie. "I'm sorry for waking you up."

"Hn." I resorted to my standard reply when I lacked the words to say what I was feeling.

"How's the waffle?" he asked me.

After taking a slug of my glass of milk, I replied, "Good." The wave of small, unimportant conversation continued for the next few minutes before I asked, "So where did that blanket come from las' night? The one that you had when we woke up on the couch?"

He blushed a tad at the memory. "Uncle Jiriya, probably." So he still called his family friend 'uncle.' Interesting. He continued, "He's the only other one that would've been around, unless grandma Tsunade stayed the night." He shuddered at the thought. "Probably Jiriya, though." I planned to talk to Jiriya later, perhaps he would tell me what Naruto would not about his nightmares.

"Why wouldn't he have just woken us up?" I inquired between the final bites of my second waffle.

Naruto laughed before responding. "He learned not to wake me up after I dislocated his jaw with a kick one time back in my freshman year of college." I chuckled. "He hasn't woken me up by shaking me since. The worst he's done is grab a bullhorn and shout at me from the door of my room."

"And how did that go?" I inquired.

"He got a face full of pillow. But that's better than a jaw full of foot, I suppose." I smirked.

I stood and walked around the other side of the counter to put my plate and empty milk cup in the dishwasher before telling Naruto, "I'm going to go grab my things from upstairs and go to the bathroom. I'll be right back." Obviously, my intention was to interrogate the stay-at-home author about his "nephew's" nightmares, but Naruto didn't need to know that.

"Alright," he replied cheerily, giving me a small goodbye wave before I disappeared from the kitchen, down the hall, and up the spiral staircase.

I knocked on the office/bedroom door of a certain Jiriya, only to receive no response. I only remember which door it was because he had, on numerous occasions, told us that if we went in there we might end up dead so that there were no witnesses. Of course, this was just a clever ploy to keep us out of his porn library when we were younger. Come high school, the room's contents were widely known in our friend group. It was still enough to keep us out. "Jiriya?" I asked through the door. I heard shuffling noises and the thumping of feet on the wood floor. "Jiriya? You there?" I repeated.

Suddenly the door was flung open from the inside and a very large, muscular man with overgrown white hair (I never did find out how he grew it that long) answered the door. He seemed to be still rubbing the sleep from his eyes and he was only wearing a sheet wrapped around his waist. I kept my composure. "What is it?" he nearly growled through sleepy teeth.

"I want you to tell me what Naruto would not," I told him matter-of-factly.

Jiriya finally blinked the sleep from his eyes and looked at me with focusing eyes. "Sasuke?" He asked dumbly. "It's been a long time."

"It has." He smiled at me. "May I come in?"

"Uh, if you want to," he said, indicating to a woman with long pale blonde hair lying on his bed naked. I swallowed and willed the blush to stop creeping up my neck.

"It would be most convenient if she would either cover up or clothe herself before we spoke." I looked away and stood calmly in the doorway as the man ushered his lover into the closet where she could put on some clothes. I calmly, mentally repeated to myself that seeing my former high school principal naked was no big deal, but I was actually flipping out mentally.

Tsunade, without any shame whatsoever, sauntered across the room and into the walk in closet. When I heard the closet door shut, I turned back to Jiriya who motioned me into the room. I entered and took a seat in one of the arm-chairs facing the TV that I had last seen in the family room, apparently it had been moved since my last visit. When Jiriya took a seat across from me and looked at me expectantly, I spoke. "You are aware that I spent the night, yes?" He nodded. "Well, at approximately seven A.M., Naruto had a nightmare that he said he hadn't had since I left. He told me it was just because he missed me that he had this reoccurring nightmare, but somehow I think he's hiding something from me. I want to know what that is."

Jiriya sighed and scratched the back of his head. "See, Sasuke, I'd love to tell you, but it's not my information to tell. If Naruto wants to tell you, he will." I glared. "I wouldn't be so arrogant as to expect him to tell you right off the bat, though. It's been less than twenty-four hours since you guys saw each other again, it's not like you could be as close as you were back when." What Jiriya told me did not lessen my curiosity about the matter, but if it took time for Naruto to tell me whatever it was, I was prepared to wait. I never gave up if I set my sights on something.

"Hn." I stood and headed for the door.

"Sasuke." I paused to look back, only to find it was Tsunade, now fully clothed and sitting on the edge of the bed, that had spoken. "Interrogating Naruto won't change anything. Give him time. He'll tell you when he thinks the time is right." I nodded and made my way out of the room and down the hallway to Naruto's room where I changed back into my formal attire.

I carried my shoes down the stairs and set them by my suit jacket, coat, and scarf. Naruto had come into the entrance room and was sitting on one of the couches, sipping the remainder of his coffee.

"What took you so long?" He asked me, chuckling. I slipped my shoes on and tightened the laces. I didn't reply to his question, but saw him sigh and put his coffee mug down on the table before him. He then stood and told me, "I'm gonna need my car keys and a shirt, I'll be right back." He then bounded up the stairs and into his room.

I slipped on my suit jacket because I saw it snowing outside. I wouldn't want it to get wet and need dry cleaning. I stood, holding my coat over my arm, by the door until Naruto returned. He returned swiftly still wearing his pajama pants, but now dawning a black long-sleeve shirt and socks. I stepped to the side, out of the way of the door and coat rack, so Naruto could slip on some shoes and a coat. I pulled on my coat as we exited the house. The fleece on the inside warmed both my heart and my body, but left my mask in tact. I climbed into Naruto's orange lamborghini at the same time he did and strapped myself in. Naruto did the same and started the engine. We didn't speak until we had exited his subdivision.

"So..." Naruto spoke first, obvious uncomfortable in the silence. I, on the other hand, was perfectly fine with the lack of conversation inside the vehicle. It was almost comforting. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

I shot him a skeptical glance, which he didn't see. I turned back to looking out at the snow-covered streets of Tokyo. "No," I answered stoically. Why did everyone expect me to have a girlfriend? All girls that wanted to date me were whiny, annoying bitches. Take Ino for example. Enough said.

"Why not?" Ugh not this again.

"I haven't the time to dedicate to finding a girl that does not whine, bitch, annoy me, stalk me, constantly stare at me, or only want to date me for the sex." Naruto looked a little taken aback by my response, but it was to be expected.

"Wow, is any girl good enough for you, teme?" Naruto swerved the car around a corner and I silently wished I had left at dawn without waking him up. I made a mental note never to let him drive again.

"Perhaps," I answered calmly. "And you, dobe? Found an unfortunate girl to date?"

"Ha ha. Very funny," he fake laughed sarcastically. "But no. I dated Hinata a few years back, but it just went on and on and we didn't go anywhere, so we ended up breaking up. Been single ever since." When I made no move to reply, Naruto continued talking. "She was the one who dared me to get these." He pointed to the whisker tattoos on his cheek. "It was just a dare to get a tattoo somewhere hidden, but when Sakura suggested these, I couldn't pass them up." I failed to reply again and the conversation died off.

Within a half an hour or so, Naruto parked in an available spot near my apartment building. I had been so lucky as to get an apartment in the same building as the one I had in high school when I went to college, so Naruto knew where it was. When I moved to climb out of the car, Naruto grabbed my forearm. I turned toward him to find his electric blue eyes boring into me. "Sasuke, keep in touch. You promised you would." So he remembered that. "I'll call you later and we can hang out, okay?" I nodded and exited the car.

It was freezing cold outside and I made my way inside as quickly as I could. It only took me a few minutes to reach my apartment and enter my warm sanctum.

I wanted to call Sakura to ask her the same thing I had asked Jiriya earlier that day, but first things first. I needed a shower.

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**(1)** Go here for a picture of the tree: _www dot s-araki dot com slash IMG0012 dot jpg_ . These are commonly planted along streets in Tokyo. They are called Flowering Dogwood or Hanamizuki.

**(2)** You have no idea how often that happens to me. o.o;;

**(3)** For those who don't know, Japanese high school starts at grade 10, not 9, and is only three years long. So when they were all 16 they would be first years in high school.

Kind of a lame ending, I know, but this is the longest chapter I've written of anything ever so I kinda was wanting to find a way to end it quicker... I skirted around the things I wanted to put into this chapter and even left a "next scene?" at the end of my plan for it thinking it'd need to be longer. But then it ended up being 7,000 words and I'm like woah! I guess I should stop here. Most of this chapter wrote itself, it wasn't forced like some chapters can be for stories. I rather liked Sasuke and Naruto's reunion because it wasn't like most reunions where all you do is keep up the awkward small talk for the evening then don't really talk until days or weeks later, and it wasn't _completely_ cliché, although it had its moments.

If you liked the chapter, please review! Your opinions are always much appreciated and inspire me to write more of a fanfiction!

--Riri


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